Building structures are often built upon perimeter wall foundations. Typical perimeter wall foundations have been formed from poured or modular concrete or built up by grouted blocks placed atop a concrete footing. The perimeter foundation walls, and any cross beams bridging across the walls, support the first floor and higher load bearing walls of the structure.
Structures such as manufactured and modular homes may be installed on interior piers as the primary foundation support rather than using the perimeter wall as the primary support. Even when using interior pier support, however, it often required by building code to provide some type of perimeter wall to reduce shear loads, seismic vibration effects and wind uplift, and to prevent flooding and pest invasion under the foundation. While a perimeter foundation in conjunction with these interior pier supports could be constructed as traditionally done with concrete or block before the building structure is lowered into position, the difficulties and expense of precise wall placement and leveling for this type of perimeter wall has led to the use of steel panels that can be hung from the perimeter floor boards of a manufactured or modular home, and then anchored at the bottom edge in a concrete-filled trench that serves as a footer for the foundation wall.
Panel assemblies for this type of steel panel perimeter foundation are known, such as the AnchorPanel® assemblies by Fast Track Foundation Systems. These are corrugated steel panels that can be cut to length and installed with lag screws hanging under the perimeter floor boards of a pier-supported structure. The corrugated shape provides stiffening against bending under vertical and side loads. The panels have the bottom 5 or 6 inches cut along the outfacing corrugation channel and bent inward at 90 degrees to form an anchorage flange that will be encapsulated in the concrete footer. While such steel panel foundations are easier to install than concrete or grouted block, the corrugated shape requires some external facing if it is to appear flat in areas exposed above ground or to be used to attach decorative surface finishing materials to make an attractive facade.
There is a need for more efficient and versatile wall panel assemblies for foundation walls, including panels with flat exterior wall surfaces, bottom anchorage for encapsulation in concrete slab floors, robust support for full foundation walls and cross wall beams, provisions for attached steel frame stairways, more variations of corners and curved panels, ease of thermal insulation, ease of drywall support, and reinforcing shear walls where much of the wall face is taken up by window and door cutouts.
Many of these objectives can be attained by using wall panel structures similar to those used in the construction of in-ground swimming pools, made from steel which can be galvanized or otherwise weather coated, with adaptations as necessary to serve as weight bearing foundation walls and shear walls for exposed foundations and upper floor exterior walls. The attainment of these and other objectives will become apparent in the description that follows.